Who Should I Start? Cooper Kupp or Michael Pittman Jr.

Wednesday, May 28, 10:14 PM

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar writes that new Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp could work underneath in the middle of the field in his first year with the team, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba serving as the big-play threat deeper down the field. Kupp and Smith-Njigba have overlapping skill sets, and general manager John Schneider said the use of tight splits will make the two wideouts hard to defend. Seattle could align JSN more out wide as opposed to in the slot, where he spent 77.4% of his snaps last season. Smith-Njigba led all receivers in yards (956) and catches (79) from the slot in a breakout campaign. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak uses both Kupp and Smith-Njigba in 2025. Kupp is on the wrong side of 30 and has missed five or more games three seasons in a row due to injuries. JSN has the higher ceiling, and we can't count on a ton of volume from Kupp at this point in his career.

Thursday, June 5, 11:30 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (knee) had an initial injury scare in voluntary OTA practice on Thursday when he bumped knees with a defender, but he's expected to be OK, a source told FOX 59's Mike Chappell. Pittman is sore and expected to be fine, but he'll likely be held out of mandatory minicamp next week as a precaution. The initial thought was that the 27-year-old former second-round pick (34th overall) in 2020 out of USC was dealing with another back injury, which was something he battled through for the majority of the 2024 campaign. He should be ready to go for training camp this summer as he looks to bounce back from a 69-808-3 line in 16 games (14 starts) in 2024. Pittman still has WR2 upside, but as a possession receiver, his best-case scenario for fantasy upside in 2025 is if Daniel Jones wins the QB battle over Anthony Richardson (shoulder).